Care home rated inadequate second time in a year

A care home in Elland remains in special measures after another critical report from the health watchdog.

An unannounced visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to Eagle Care Home on Victoria Road resulted in its second ‘inadequate’ rating within a year, following an inspection in February.

Debbie Westhead, deputy chief inspector of adult social care in the north, said: “People are entitled to services which provide well-led, safe, and effective, high quality care.

“We found the care provided by Eagle Care Home fell short of the standards we expect services to provide.

“Although we found some improvements had been made to the care people received in areas such as safeguarding, activities and the cleanliness of the environment, we found a number of regulatory breaches remained.

“We were very concerned that basic risks to people’s safety were not being managed.

“For example we found some staff did not know the correct procedures to follow in the event of a fire, and correct administration procedures for giving out medicines was not always followed.

“We also found there were not always enough staff on duty to keep people safe and meet their needs.

“We are now taking further action to protect people and we are working closely with Calderdale Council to ensure that people are safe and get the services they need.”

Although the provider told the CQC they had worked out they were overstaffed by nine hours, they were not able to provide evidence of how these calculations had been made.

Medicines were not always managed safely, which meant people were at risk of not receiving their medicines when they needed them.

A medicines error occurred on the day of the inspection, which was recognised and rectified.

However, the CQC said the correct administration procedures had not been followed and if they had the mistake would not have taken place.